Your Cookies are Disabled! NationalNotary.org sets cookies on your computer to help improve performance and provide a more engaging user experience. By using this site, you accept the terms of our cookie policy. Learn more.

Malta Notary Reform Brings More Transparency, Efficiency, Quality

As part of an ongoing effort to streamline and reform its notarial system, Malta is implementing a series of amendments and regulations designed to create a more transparent reporting system, standardize its service model, and ensure consistent, high quality performance from its Notaries.

This is the most significant reform to the island country’s notarial rules and regulations since its first notarial laws were enacted in 1927. The country’s location in the Mediterranean has made it an important player in regional trade and banking activities.

As part of the new laws, Notaries must now produce reports on the titles to property for every transfer performed. They must also enter into a “contract of engagement” with signers and adhere to fee schedules for each type of transaction as strictly prescribed by the online billing calculator provided by the Notarial Council. Collected fees must then be deposited in an official notarial deposit account used only for Notary transactions and registered with the Notarial Council and the banking institution.

The Notarial Council has also agreed to collect, inspect, and archive all deeds done in any calendar year by the following year. This will allow a quicker and more convenient review process, and make it easier to promptly catch and correct any errors.

The reforms also grant Malta’s Notarial Council more powers and obligations than it had before, and reform strategies such as these should make it easier and safer for U.S. companies to engage in international trade, real estate, and other transactions with the nation, as Malta remains a small but important financial and trade center for the U.S.